The Cure for Madness
Background "Whilst I was away, Cicero went berserk and tried to kill Astrid. He fled to the Dawnstar Sanctuary, with Arnbjorn in pursuit. I need to locate them, and then confront Cicero." Walkthrough Sanctuary in Shambles When you arrive in the Sanctuary, you will be met by Gabriella, who, though pleased you completed your previous mission, will bid you speak to Astrid immediately. Astrid informs you that Cicero went crazy and attempted to kill everyone before fleeing. She instructs you to search Cicero’s room for clues. On an end table next to his bed is The final volume of Cicero's Journal. All the previous volumes can be found on nearby elevated surfaces. When you read the final volume, it will provide you with details of the password and location for an older and unused Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary near Dawnstar. Your next objective is to let Astrid know of your findings, and upon doing so, she will instruct you to kill Cicero and provide you with her horse, Shadowmere, as a means of getting to him. As Shadowmere is unique in appearance, you may choose to obtain him, but it is not essential to complete the quest. Track Cicero Travel to Dawnstar and talk to Arnbjorn who is sitting injured on the ground just outside of the Dawnstar Sanctuary. He informs you his injuries were from a fight with Cicero, but that he injured Cicero equally as seriously and you should just "follow the blood" to find him. After suggesting that he return to the home Sanctuary, enter Dawnstar Sanctuary and follow the linear path (fighting the guardians, and a troll, whilst avoiding traps) to Cicero. Confronting Cicero Navigating through to the end of the Sanctuary, you eventually find Cicero lying on the ground injured. He asks that you spare his life and lie to Astrid about killing him. Should the player decide to let him live, there is no effect on the outcome of the quest nor the attitudes of the other Brotherhood members toward the player. If you kill him, you can loot his body for his outfit, some gold, and leveled dagger, and you do not have to lie to Astrid. Completing the Quest Return to Astrid and inform (or lie to) her about Cicero's death. She will then thank you and suggest you hold on to Shadowmere "a little longer," in addition to starting you on your new quest, Recipe for Disaster. Notes *If you have the Ghost of Lucien Lachance active, Lucien will tell you that it is not wise to kill Cicero, because Keeper is a sacred position in the Dark Brotherhood. Having completed the questline for the Dark Brotherhood, and Cicero is still alive, he becomes a Follower. *You may steal the Jester Outfit worn by Cicero without killing him, though only if the pickpocket perks allowing it have been taken. *There are two skill books located on a table if you take the left path down the stairs after the spear trap. The books increase one handed and archery. *The Jesters Outfit can be picked up just as you enter Cicero's "new hide out". You will find a full set on a table just to the left of the entrance. *For those who dislike leveling sneak and pickpocketing, this is the perfect opportunity. Although time consuming, this quest has perfect capabilities to level these skills. When you get to the sanctuary, grab the jester outfit. this will help with your sneak. Wear all of the outfit. Find your way to Cicero. Do not kill him. After speaking to him, go into the corner directly behind him. Crouch into the sneak position. It will say you are hidden. To level your sneak, you can face the corner and slowly walk, using the jester outfit to help conceal you. If possible, set down the controller and have it walk by itself, just make sure you are hidden. After a long enough time you will level quite a bit. You can also use this to pickpocket. Since Cicero cannot call guards, and cannot move, you have an unlimited chance to get caught without repercussions. Sneak behind him, and pickpocket. Take the 500 gold. Once done, place any items you desire on him (preferreably keys because they have the highest percentage to steal), and pickpocket them back. Do this repeatedly until you get your desired level (Does NOT work on PS3 or PC. If you fail to pickpocket the 500 Gold Cicero will get up and attack). *It is also easy to level up block and armour skills here. Hit Cicero, but don't kill him. He hits quite low and fast, which makes it easy to level up and nothing can interrupt. You have to be quick to level block because he is very fast and moves around you while attacking. With time and patience you can get the levels you want. *Cicero's 500 gold may be taken twice. This can be done by pickpocketing him before attacking. *If you choose to spare Cicero, and complete the quest "Hail Sithis!" you will get him as a Follower. If you choose to let him resume his role as Keeper inside the Dawnstar sanctuary, Nazir will state that he knew you wouldn't kill him. Nevertheless, Cicero is back. Bugs * Although you can't loot the guardians after you kill them, you can pickpocket them for Shrouded Armor pieces and weapons/arrows, if you have the Misdirection and Perfect Touch perks. If done fast enough the weapons they drop when killed can be picked up. * You may get stuck in an infinite loop where Astrid says "You need to hear this!" and then never says anything else. To fix, simply "wait" in position for an hour. This seems to get her back on track. *If you kill Cicero, loot his armor set, raise him (Conjuration) and then bring him through a new loading screen his armor will re-spawn on his body. **It seems that if you raise Cicero before you report back to Astrid, the game won't allow you to talk to her and you will never be able to finish the quest (Even if you kill your Cicero zombie). * If you kill the last guardian and try to loot him, the game may freeze. *I entered the Sanctuary, turned into a werewolf, killed all the enemies on the way to Cicero and occasionally fed on the dead "Holograms" to maintain my werewolf form. After I killed Cicero (still as a werewolf) his body disappeared (just like the bodies of the "Holograms") and I couldn't loot him. The quest was complete though. (PC) * Sometimes after retrieving Cicero's journal, when reporting back to Astrid it will tell you, "This person is busy." Simply reload the game from entering the Sanctuary, talk to Astrid, grab the journal, and report back to her - this time it should work. *The door in the south-east corner of the room just before the snow covered caves can be opened. Simply jump over the door bar and you will be just outside Cicero's room. * Sometimes after you return to Astrid once Cicero has been killed, she will say her first line of dialogue and will be unable to be interacted with. Instead when you try to talk to her she will repeat the same line of dialogue again. * Occasionally when attempting to leave the Sanctuary after killing Cicero, the door will not respond to Use and you can't leave. Category:Dark Brotherhood quests